2024 Vezina Trophy: Did NHL GMs Get it Right?

The NHL announced three finalists for the Vezina Trophy this week, with betting favourite Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets joined by Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks and two-time winner Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Did the NHL general managers who vote on the award get their top-3 right?

As we have in past seasons, InGoal Magazine will dig into the numbers that matter to general managers (wins and save percentage), then dig deeper into numbers that should matter more, adding shot quality context with help from Clear Sight Analytics.

When we performed a similar exercise last season, it confirmed Linus Ullmark was a worthy winner, but showed Juuse Saros was an absurd omission as a finalist.

What will the numbers show us about this year’s candidates? Any glaring omissions?

We’ll start with the obvious predictive measurements GMs seem to rely on: